The addition of strain in uniaxially strained transistors by both SiN contact etch stop layers and recessed SiGe sources and drains

SiN contact etch stop layers (CESL) and recessed SiGe sources/drains are two uniaxial strain techniques used to boost the charge carriers mobility in p-type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (pMOSFETs). It has already been shown that the electrical performances of the devices can be increased by combining both of these techniques on the same transistor. However, there are few experimental investigations of their additivity from the strain point of view. Here, spatially resolved strain mapping was performed using dark-field electron holography (DFEH) on pMOSFETs transistors strained by SiN CESL and embedded SiGe sources/drains. The influence of both processes on the strain distribution has been investigated independently before the combination was tested. This study was first performed with non-silicided devices. The results indicated that in the channel region, the strain induced by the combination of both processes is equal to the sum of the individual components. Then, the same investigation was performed after Ni-silicidation of the devices. It was found that in spite of a slight reduction of the strain due to the silicidation, the strain additivity is approximately preserved. Finally, it was also shown that DFEH can be a useful technique to characterize the strain field around dislocations. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4764045]